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Name, age: Barney, 23
Annual income: $84,000
Debt: $0
Savings: $10,000 in savings account, $50,000 in tax-free savings account (TFSA), $19,000 in registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), $500 in first-home savings account
What he does: Analyst in the pension industry
Where he lives: Oshawa area
Top financial concern: “The cost of housing. It’s so expensive to move out, and it’s not just the rent or the mortgage, also the condo fees, food, hydro and everything else. Not having the disposable income to save is scary.”
Barney credits living at home, COVID-19 lockdowns, the registered education savings plan (RESP) his parents set up and enrolling in a co-op program for his good fortune and being able to finish university with no debt.
He grew up east of the Greater Toronto Area and went to university in Toronto. His long commute was cut short by the pandemic, when his courses were moved online.
“Not having to commute was great,” said Barney, who works as an analyst in the pension industry. “COVID was terrible, but it saved me money.”
He says he grew up always conscious of the value of saving: “My parents always told me to watch my pennies and they would turn to dimes.” There was enough in his RESP to cover his first two years of tuition.
He chose to live at home to save money and be close to his friends and continued to work the grocery store job he’d had for years, even during semesters when he was also working a co-op job, for which he got paid between $20 and $25 an hour.
When his RESP ran out, the money from each co-op term allowed him to pay for next semester’s tuition, while his grocery job paid for extras. He also briefly had a cryptocurrency investment but sold that to pay for an exchange semester in the Netherlands.
One of Barney’s co-op employers hired him full-time during his last semester of school, so he did both at the same time for a few very busy months. He likes his downtown Toronto job and makes more money than most people his age.
He has been able to save quite a bit of money already because he continues to live at home on weekends and stays with a relative in Toronto for free during the week.
“Her kids are older, so they moved out,” he explained, describing the house as a four-bedroom home in a nice neighbourhood. “I just do whatever she wants me to do chore-wise – ladder things, digging holes in the garden.
“We go for dinner sometimes and I will pay,” he said, adding that, so far, both seem to appreciate the arrangement. “Her house is paid for. She likes the company.”
Barney would love to live on his own but says it would be hard to adjust his lifestyle to one in which most of his income goes to home-related costs.
“I don’t have a target in mind or a savings amount,” he said. “I’m just waiting for the day when I feel comfortable enough to do it.”
His typical monthly expenses:
Investment and savings: $3,083
$2,000 to savings account
$583 to TFSA “I’m putting in the max annually.”
$500 to RRSP
Servicing debt: $0
Household and transportation: $685
$125 on gasoline
$150 on car insurance
$100 on car maintenance
$200 on GO Train
$20 on Uber “Only used for ad-hoc activities, about one per month.”
$90 on cellphone “Phone and plan.”
Food and drink: $470
$150 for groceries “I live at home with my parents and only pay for some things.”
$70 at coffee shops “Coffee four times a week and sometimes extra on weekends, or food.”
$150 eating out “Favourite activity.”
$100 on alcohol “Includes restaurant spend and stuff for home.”
Miscellaneous: $2,109
$700 to paycheque deductions “Tax alone is $480.”
$350 to defined benefit pension plan “It’s about 11 to 13 per cent.”
$39 on long-term disability insurance “Part of benefits package at work.”
$100 to going out “Some concerts.”
$20 on Apple TV+
$10 on Apple Music
$400 on sports “Golf, skiing.”
$50 on gym membership
$30 on haircuts “It used to be $50 a month, then I decided to grow my hair out so I haven’t been in months.”
$300 on vacations “This year, I want to go to Spain and Portugal.”
$50 on donations
$50 on gifts “Only when required.”
$10 on dry cleaning “A couple times a year.”
Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the person profiled. We want to thank them for sharing their story. Are you a millennial or Gen Z who would like to participate in a paycheque profile? Send us an e-mail.
